What are the University’s English language proficiency requirements?

The University considers a student’s ability to communicate effectively in the English language to be critically important to his/her academic and personal success as well as to safety in laboratories and other academic or research environments.

International applicants whose primary language is not English and/or who have completed their secondary or tertiary education primarily outside of the USA must submit official scores of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or Pearson Test of English-Academic (PTE-A) as evidence of English language proficiency. The University’s English language proficiency requirements may be met by providing qualifying test scores. To be considered official, test scores must be sent directly from the testing agency to the University and be less than two years old. The TOEFL school-code for The University of Mississippi is 1840.

TOEFL Paper Based Test (ITP): 550 or higher (valid only within the institution in which it is given)

IELTS: 6.00 overall band score or higher

PTE-A: 53 or higher

Exemptions:

International applicants who are citizens of, or who earned a degree of higher education in, one of the following countries are exempted from the English language proficiency requirement.

Anguilla

Antigua and Barbuda

Australia

Bahamas

Barbados

Belize

Bermuda

British Virgin Islands

Canada (except Quebec)

Cayman Islands

Dominica

Grenada

Guyana (British Guyana)

Ireland

Jamaica

Liberia

Malta

Montserrat

New Zealand

St. Kitts and Nevis

St. Lucia

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Trinidad and Tobago

Turks and Caicos Islands

United Kingdom

U.K. Virgin Islands

USA

U.S. Virgin Islands

International applicants who show evidence of having completed the Advanced Plus Course at the University of Mississippi’s Intensive English Program with a B grade or higher.

International applicants who show evidence of having earned a minimum grade of B on the ELS Educational Services, Inc.’s ELS 112 course (English for Academic Purposes).

International applicants who apply for admission as Degree-Seeking Freshman Students and who have completed all four years of high school education at, and graduated from, an accredited high school in the USA. They must, however, comply with the admission standards for non-international (i.e. U.S.-domestic) applicants as stated in the undergraduate catalog. Please note that who are home schooled or who earned a General Equivalency Diploma (GED) in the USA must submit English language proficiency test scores.

International applicants who apply for admission as Degree Seeking Transfer Students and who have completed at least 30 credits, including two (2) English Writing/Composition courses at an accredited institution of higher education in the USA and who have earned a cumulative grade point average of 2.00 or higher on a 4.00 scale and a 2.00 or higher on a 4.00 scale on each of the English Writing/Composition courses.

International applicants who apply for admission as short term Non-Degree-Seeking Exchange Students via academic institutional partners or ISEP (International Student Exchange Programs) may be exempt from the TOEFL, IELTS or PTE-A test requirement though they must provide a certification of English language proficiency issued by the institution through which the exchange program is facilitated.

International applicants who apply for admission to an undergraduate program who have already earned a degree of higher education (associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree) in one of the countries listed above.

A little below the minimum? International students who meet all admission requirements but whose TOEFL, IELTS or PTE-A test scores are between 69-78 (TOEFL IBT), 5.50-5.99 (IELTS) or 47-52 (PTE-A) may be admitted to the University. To ensure such students are successful in their academic pursuits, such students are required to enroll in a 3 credit hour “English for International Students” course (IE090) and a 1 credit hour “Academic Writing Lab for International Students” lab during their first term of enrollment at the University, and in subsequent terms if necessary until the course is successfully completed. This category of admission is not currently available to those needing F-1 student visa status.